Angus Taylor supporters expect him to challenge Sussan Ley for Liberal leadership within days | Coalition

Angus Taylor is expected to challenge Sussan Ley for the Liberal leadership within days, according to supporters who argue “something has to change” after a devastating opinion poll and the chaos of a Coalition split.

Although no decision has been made, conservative MPs believe it is not a question of whether Taylor will hold a leadership vote this week after the election, but when. Latest News Poll Coalition primaries show collapse historical low 18% – nine percentage points behind Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

A leak is thought unlikely on Tuesday because Liberal senators will not be able to attend the regular party room meeting due to estimates hearings.

That leaves the most likely option for a special meeting on Thursday night or Friday morning to vote on a leadership change.

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Ley was defiant Monday morning when asked if her job was safe.

“Yes it is,” he told Sky News, adding that he did not expect a leak this week.

Liberal frontbencher and Ley ally Alex Hawke said he was “committed to fully supporting my colleagues’ leaders”.

Taylor would first have to resign from the shadow cabinet before supporting a leak motion and contesting the leadership.

Ley’s leadership has been seen as fatal since Nationals leader David Littleproud blasted the Coalition last month following a split over hate speech laws.

The two parties decided to meet again on Sunday after both leaders previously agreed to red line demands.

Guardian Australia reported that some MPs believed Ley’s concessions had damaged his credibility and that potentially important swing votes had been shifted to Taylor’s column, despite the shadow defense minister pushing for reunification.

Ley defeated Taylor by 29 votes to 25 in the post-election leadership vote, with the support of the Coalition of moderate, centre-right and neutral MPs.

Some Conservative MPs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the possibility of leaks had increased significantly this week after The Australian published its latest News Poll results late on Sunday night.

“It will happen, it’s just a matter of timing,” one said. Another Taylor supporter said: “Something needs to change.”

In a significant intervention, Liberal senator Jane Hume warned that the party would be “destroyed” unless an urgent change of direction was made.

The former front bench player stressed that he was not pushing to sack Ley but wanted “something to change”.

“My message to my leaders is that if you’ve got a rabbit in your hat, it’s time to get to that rabbit, because we can’t go on like this,” he told Sky News.

Although the Victorian senator is from the moderate group, he supported the conservative Taylor in the previous vote. This was seen as one of the main reasons why Ley relegated him to the backbench.

While moderates remain behind Ley, Guardian Australia understands the gravity of the News Poll result and the inevitability of a leak has triggered the first real discussions about how the group might salvage something from the leadership change.

Hume and fellow moderates Goldstein MP, Tim Wilson and Flinders MP Zoe McKenzie were mentioned internally as possible options for deputy leader.

Victorian Liberal Sarah Henderson, one of Ley’s internal critics, told Sky News the party was facing a “real crisis”.

“I think every Liberal member and senator needs to consider these issues very quickly this week,” he said.

Henderson will not relish the challenge of unseating the first female opposition leader.

“I will just say that some things need to change,” he said.

“I’m very sorry to say this, but we need to make some significant changes and we need to rebuild the faith of the Australian people. I’m sure we can do that, but we need to change direction.”